Iraqi forces free government compound in IS-held town near Mosul

Iraqi security forces on Wednesday took control of the government compound after heavy clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants in the town of Qayyara in south of IS' major stronghold in Mosul, a security source said.

"The troops managed in the morning to free the government compound and raised the Iraqi flag on its main building in Qayyara and are now fighting to push further into the central part of the town," Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, spokesman for the Joint Military Command, told Xinhua.

The troops also recaptured the main police headquarters and hospital of the town in the battles during the day, Rasoul said.

The troops' advance inside the town was slowed by snipers, many booby-trapped buildings, car bombs and dozens of roadside bombs planted earlier by the extremist militants, Rasoul said, adding that the Iraqi and U.S.-led air strikes destroyed many suicide car bombs in the town's streets before reaching the advanced troops.

"The battles continued as the troops are fighting to drive out dozens of the IS militants from other parts of the town," Rasoul said.

He said that "intelligence reports indicated that dozens of the terrorists have fled the town and resorted to their main stronghold in Mosul."

The advance in Qayyara began on Tuesday when the troops advance at dawn from several direction toward the town, some 50 km south of Mosul, and freed its nearby oil refinery later in the day after heavy clashes with the IS militants.

Last month, the security forces made a significant victory when they recaptured a strategic airbase near Qayyara.

Recapturing the town is vital for the security forces which will use the town and the nearby airbase as a staging ground to free Iraq's last major IS stronghold in Mosul, which itself located some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

The advance into Qayyara is part of a major offensive aiming to free areas in southern Mosul and surround Mosul from the south and east before pushing into the city and flushing the IS militants out of it.

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, has been under the IS control since June 2014, when the Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, giving opportunities for the IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.

Source : XINHUA